The Fourth Subject
by Alexan Sylvana
Summary: What if not every child that Robert Leingod and the others chose to subject to Symbological Genetic Alteration was a perfect match, what if Fayt had a brother... No pairings decided as of yet, but possible slash, thus a T rating, to be safe. The story will start similar to the game, but will diverge later. All tenses fixed to past tense in previous chapters
1. Prologue

A/N: Okay, I know I forgot to do this for some time, but yeah let me edit in a small disclaimer;

-Ahem-

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Ocean 3, Star Ocean 3 is owned by Tri-Ace, Square-Enix, and anyone else who actually owns rights to it, I am just borrowing some of their plot to play with and right a story about.

Right, now that that is out of the way, carry on.

* * *

Symbological Genetics Researchers Robert and Ryoko Leingod, Clive Esteed, and Jessie Traydor looked on as a female child lay, asleep, within a Genetic Alteration Pod. The computer screens showed a percentage that raised slowly, as the child's genetic sequence was scanned by the computer. Suddenly the screen flashed red twice, and began showing a second genetic sequence scrolling across it.

"Error, DNA compatibility is incomplete," a soothing feminine voice stated, "Subject 3 is only 83.49% compatible with selected Symbological Gene."

"What!? But how?" Robert asked, "We checked her blood against this gene already and the percentage was at 99.3 then."

"Subject 3's blood is compatible, however, Subject 3 is a chimaera, 45.23% of brain tissue, alone, is incompatible with the selected Symboligical Gene."

"Damnit!" Robert exclaimed, slamming a fist on the control panel, barely missing the keys.

"Calm down, Robert," Clive said, shaking his head, "We should have checked more than one sample, it our own mistake not checking Sophia more completely, but we _will_ find another subject in time."

"Yes, dear," Ryoko said, putting a placating hand on Robert's arm, "Clive is right, we will find another child." Ryoko placed her other hand upon her abdomen, rubbing gently, "Perhaps our second child will match more completely.

Shock ran across Robert's face, as he paled. Turning to place his hands over his wife's hand, he sighed and closed his eyes.

"And so we submit our second child, who should be a blessing, to the damnation of being a human weapon?" He asked, rhetorically, before opening his eyes and giving a steely glance to the others, "So be it, our children may hate us in the future, but without them, there may not _be_ a future."


	2. Chapter 1 - Hyda IV

AN: Yes this will be similar to the game, at least a little, but bear with me... Also, this may lack more descriptive paragraphs, I kinda suck at exposition and rely on dialogue :/

* * *

Two bluenettes fell backwards onto a bench in the gaming lounge, their eyes closed, breathing heavily but laughing at the same time. The older of the two bluenettes, Fayt, had short hair, a light colored sleeveless shirt and khaki shorts, while the younger, Destiny, had shoulder length hair pulled into a ponytail at the base of his head, a black sleeveless shirt and dark red shorts.

"Whew, that was an intense battle," Destiny said, opening his eyes to reveal amethyst colored eyes, "I think we leveled at least 3 times after just that last battle."

"I'm glad you chose the staff user as your main character, Des," Fayt said, opening his own emerald colored eyes with a laugh, "Those bats were nearly impossible for me to get with my sword."

"That's what you get, brother mine, for choosing the basic warrior class," Destiny replied, shaking his head, "If you had at least chosen a class capable of symbology as well you'd..."

"So that's where you are!" Sophia, their childhood friend and neighbor, huffed out while stomping her foot, "I was waiting for you at the beach, Fayt," she added, blinking in what she thought was a cute manner. "You _said_ you'd come to the beach today, and swim with me, or did you forget? Instead I find you here, playing games. Didn't you say you had lots of homework to finish?"

"Aww come on, we just got here today, there's plenty of time to swim at the beach anyhow," Fayt said, shaking his head, "And don't remind me about my homework."

"That's why I suggested he play games, after all," Destiny said, ignoring the fact that Sophia wasn't even talking to him at all, "He was stressing over that homework not even half an hour ago."

Fayt stood up, and placed his hands on Sophia's shoulders, giving her a small smile, "How about we go to the beach now, huh?"

Sophia huffed and turned away, "No thanks, I swam enough, while you two were playing games."

Fayt frowned for a second, then shrugged, "How about a walk, then? We haven't seen all of the hotel yet, now have we?"

Sophia stayed facing away from Fayt, keeping her silence for a few seconds, then turned around and smiled at Fayt, "Alright, let me go get changed first."

* * *

Waiting outside of Sophia's room, Fayt turned to his brother and sighed, "What are the chances that she's taking her time changing just to get revenge on me for not going to the beach earlier?"

Destiny merely laughed and clapped Fayt on the back, "I'd say that the chance is extremely high," he then shook his head, "I, however, am not about to follow you both around the hotel, so I'll see you both later, bye!"

Fayt gaped at his brother walking away from him at a quick pace, "O...oy! Where are you going?!" He yelled out as Destiny went through the transporter room's door, "Damn."

"Something wrong, Fayt?" Sophia asked from right behind him, making him jump a little, "Gah! Uh... no, nothing. Come on, let's go," he added, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the transporters taking them to the recreation floor again.

They walked along the halls of the hotel, chuckling at the bland, generic paintings and the stereotypical potted plants everywhere. Not long into their walk, the two found a door, unlabeled, but unlocked that they though lead into another hallway, but upon opening it they are greeted by a strange sight. A circus troupe, many of whom look in their direction as the door closes behind them.

"Ah... sorry, I think we went the wrong way," Fayt says, raising his hands up before bowing a little in embarrassment.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the gaming lounge, Destiny went back in one of the Virtual Reality game rooms. Strange armor glowing over his own normal clothes, a glowing staff in hand, he twirled the staff around before slamming it down upon the head of an Axe Beak monster attempting to sneak up on him.

"Level complete, player level raised to triple A, continue?" The computer asked, in it's relatively monotone, if soothing, voice.

"No thanks," he said, twirling the staff one last time, "I think I've played enough for today."

"Confirmed, saving player data... Saved."

Destiny sighed as he walked out of the game room, only to come face-to-face with his brother and Sophia. Laughing, he walked over towards the bench nearby.

"Trying to get her to play games as well, huh?" He asked, still chuckling, "Well make sure she has a symbology user, at the least, you know that's where you are lacking in battle."

"Yeah, yeah," Fayt muttered, while doing just as Destiny was saying inputting data for Sophia's character, "Flare Witch Cecilia Fermina it is." He looked behind him, at Sophia and screwed his face up for a second, then shrugged, "Remote City of Listia should do, as well."

Destiny laughed again, and lay back on the bench as the door to the game room opened up to admit his brother and Sophia. He staid lying there, his hands behind his head, chuckling to himself as he imagined Sophia facing off against the Bronze Brute boss of the Remote City of Listia. He'd nearly screamed when he'd first seen that hulking brute, himself.

He continued to lie there for around ten minutes before being awakened from his slight doze by the hotel rumbling and shaking as though in an earthquake, "Huh? Wha...? Wait," he muttered, "Hyda IV is tectonically stable, there shouldn't be any earthquakes."

Rushing out the northern door to look out the vast hotel windows, he cursed to himself as he watched a battleship blast a large swath of the buildings not too far away, "Shit... why are there battleships here?"

Turing back around, he ran back into the gaming lounge and locked eyes with Fayt, who, along with Sophia, had already left the game room, and he nodded. They all left out the southern entrance to the lounge in complete silence, and headed towards the transporter rooms, which had been rerouted to the evacuation facility already.

"Let's go," Fayt said, leading Sophia to a transporter, and gesturing for Destiny to go ahead of him, "Mom and dad should both be at there as well, they'd have seen the battleships before they fired their first shots."

"Right," Destiny said with a nod, "Let's get to safety first," he finished as he walked into the transporter, followed shortly by Fayt.

* * *

AN: Okay, yeah, a bit short, but hey, it's a first chapter posted the same day as the prologue, and really, not much worth going over with Hyda IV anyhow... also I'm probably going to skip a lot of the PAs from the game, and many of the playable characters (Peppita, Roger, Adray, Mirage) will be given very little screen time (word time?)


	3. Chapter 2 - Evacuation Facility

A/N: Okay, yeah, slow going, but hey, I've gotten further this time than my last attempt, I believe xD

Also, yes, I know the battles are different, and I skipped dialogue. I _am_ trying to keep it somewhat different from the game anyhow, otherwise it's just a retelling -shrugs-

* * *

As the Leingod brothers and Sophia arrived at the evacuation routing facility, they found that the halls were clogged with the many other families and employees who were at the hotel as the attack began. At the end of the line, however, they quickly spotted Robert and Ryoko, running up to them calling out to them as they reach them.

"Thank goodness you're all safe," Ryoko said, relief shining in her eyes as she grabbed one arm of each of her children.

"What's going on, dad?" Fayt asked his father, "Who would attack a resort planet?"

"I know that they weren't any kind of Aldian Battleships that I've ever seen in school," Destiny added as he turned thoughtful, however, before he was able to add anything else, a door at the other end of the long hallway blasted out of it's frame, and an unknown group of alien soldiers stormed through.

"So, it's as I thought," Robert said to Ryoko, who nodded with a worried look.

"What do you mean, dad?" Fayt asked, concern evident on his face.

"No, nothing, let's get going," Robert said, shaking his head, "You must all stick together and stay safe."

"Damn, how'd they get in here?" A federation officer muttered, then turned to the civilians, "Hurry, the transporter is up ahead!"

The officer was joined by a handful of others and they began to fire shots at the alien soldiers, only to get shot down by the enemy before they could even manage to take a single soldier down.

"Damn, they're getting away!" The apparent leader of the alien soldiers yelled, then he turned to one of the others, "Send in the Incapacitators."

Another door along the long hallways blasted out of it's frame, and a multitude of four-legged machines sped out towards the group of civilians. Ryoko looked and Robert, worry plain in her eyes, and they both nodded to each other.

"Hurry ahead, boys, and keep Sophia with you," Robert said, as he and Ryoko paused in the hall, "You must keep each other safe, no matter what."

"What are you talking about?" Fayt asked, wondering why his parents were stopping, "We have to keep going."

"Go, we'll distract some of them, go!" Robert yelled, as he grabbed a bit of scrap metal and began luring some of the Incapacitators away, "We'll meet up at the Evacuation Facility, now go!"

"But..." Fayt started, but Destiny and Sophia cut him off by dragging him away.

"You heard your father," Sophia said, pulling at his arm, "We'll meet up later, but we have to get going now."

Destiny hurried and grabbed a few other pieces of metal conduit handing the shorter pieces to the others, keeping a longer one that reminds him of his weapon from the virtual gaming he and his brother play often.

"Come on, Fayt," Destiny says, experimentally spinning the conduit in his hands, getting the feel for it, "We may have to fight our way out of here, but we _will_ get to the Evacuation Facility, and we'll find our parents afterward, I believe it in my heart. We have to leave here, now, however, if we are to do that," he added, as he began to head off in the direction that the federation officer had pointed out earlier.

True to his prediction, as they headed into the next section of the halls leading to the transporter, a group of four Incapacitators burst out of a door behind them and began shooting in their direction, forcing them to dodge to the sides. Without realizing it, Fayt and Destiny, both, fell into the pattern they tended to follow when they battled side-by-side in their battle simulations.

"Fayt, take the ones in the front," Destiny called, slamming his make-shift staff down in front of him, "I'll support you from here."

Blue rings began to circle Destiny as he raised his staff in front of himself once more, his eyes glowing a little brighter with the light reflected from the rings. He flung his staff forward, "Fire Bolt!" he called out, shooting two fireballs out of the tip of the conduit-staff, launching them at the two Incapacitators at the back of the enemy group, hitting them square in their 'heads', causing them to shut down. Directly after those two go down, Fayt managed to smash both of the Incapacitators that he is fighting in their 'heads' in two back-to-back swings.

Before they could even think of celebrating their victory, a new group of Incapacitators came from the same door that the others had burst through.

"More of them?" Sophia asked, groaning, "Why are they trying to get us so badly?"

"We'll worry about that later," Fayt said, getting into a battle stance once again, "After we've defeated these things."

"Right," Sophia nodded, then twirled the rod-like conduit in her hands, channeling a sphere of pure symbological energy, "Take this!" She yelled and released the sphere at the nearest Incapacitator, whose 'head' short-circuited causing it to collapse like all the previous ones.

"Fire Bolt!" Destiny called out once more, blasting another two, giving Fayt room to charge at the final Incapaciator in the group.

Not giving their enemies a chance to catch the unaware again, the group took off in their target direction. They made their way down the hallway a few more yards before they heard the tell-tale clanking of another group if Incapacitators, a group larger than the last, gaining on them. When they turned around to face the enemy group, they were met with an odd sight; one of the circus workers that Sophia and Fayt had met before disabling an Incapacitator with a single stomp.

"We need to get a move on, guys," a girl sitting on the larger circus worker's shoulders called out, "It's a disaster back that way, and they're on their way here already."

"What? Mom and Dad are back that way!" Fayt yelled and began to turn back to where they came from.

"Stop it Fayt," Destiny said, grabbing his brother's arm, "They told us to go on ahead. Look, I'm worried about them too, but we didn't come this far just to turn around and get killed or captured when Mom and Dad told us to keep each other safe."

"Destiny's right," Sophia said, nodding, "Uncle Robert and Aunty Ryoko told us to go, they knew what they were doing, I believe that."

Fayt shook his head, trying to come to terms with what he was being told. Sighing, he stopped struggling against the others, and he set his face into a stern visage.

"Right, we move forward," He said, his voice low and serious, "Later, we _will_ find them again, we just have to believe it."

They, as a group, made it the rest of the way to the transporter without incident and stepped in together. In a flash, they arrived at the evacuation facility and were greeted by a federation soldier.

"Welcome to Iruba Shelter 5," he said, "You three have been assigned room 506," he added looking at the Leingod brothers and Sophia, "And you two are with the rest of your troupe in 509. You all have free range of the facility, but some areas may be restricted for safety reasons, please refer to the nearest console or officer for further details. Transport will arrive shortly, please wait patiently."

"Right, 506," Fayt said tiredly, "Let's go."

Bowing to the others, Destiny and Sophia followed Fayt in leaving the transporter room. A decal on the wall in front of them show them that the room they are looking for would be on the left, thus they headed in that direction, arriving at room 506 shortly afterward.

"Let's rest up for now," Destiny suggested, seeing that the room is empty aside from themselves, "We'll need to be ready when the transport comes."

"Yeah, I'm beat," Sophia said, nearly stumbling to the bed on the middle of the right side of the room. Laying down, she pulled the top sheet up until it almost covers her entire face, "Can you stay here until I fall asleep, Fayt?"

"Sure thing," Fayt said, sitting on the bed near Sophia's, only closer to the door, "Just get some sleep,"

"Thanks," Sophia replied, already half-asleep.

"I'll get some sleep now too," Destiny said, "Don't stay up too long worrying about Mom and Dad, they'll be fine, I just know it."

"Right," Fayt said, and laid back on the bed he was sitting on, "We just have to have faith in them."

"Yep," Destiny ended the conversation by yawning and turning over, falling asleep nearly instantly.


	4. Chapter 3 - Helre

**A/N:** Great good gods, I am terribly sorry for the long break, I had to move on short notice and just happened to lost internet at the same time, But now I have a small window for posting chapters and will be doing just that. On another note, I have no idea why I thought to write my first few chapters in the present tense, I shall be going back to fix that shortly... Seriously, present tense sound cluncky when I read it, why would I write using it?

Anyhow, due to the far FAR too long of a wait you have all had, I shall make sure that the following chapter is going to be a little longer and, I shall get back to writing this story, posting a chapter a week if I can manage it. Wish me luck.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but two copies of this game, a game guide, and Destiny, all else belongs to Square Enix and is borrowed with love... I also make no money from this work of text. On with the story.**

* * *

When Destiny woke up, the room was dark, and a quick glance at the dimmed computer display showed that it was only around two in the morining, Hyda IV time.

'Damn, it's still so early,' he thought, rubbing his eyes, 'Well, there's nothing for it, I'm already awake now.'

Getting out of bed quietly, Destiny stretched, enjoying the feel of well worked muscles from the previous night's battles. Walking over to the computer console, he began typing a request for the computer to search for the Leingod doctors, instructing the computer to respond with text only, mindful of the others still sleeping.

_Error... Cannot find either Robert or Ryoko Leingod at current time._

'Well shit,' Destiny muttered, 'Fayt is gonna freak out if he hears that.'

Suddenly the computer emitted a chiming sound, bringing the lights on to full brightness, effectively waking his companions

"_Attention please, Federation Battleships have engaged the enemy forces around Hyda IV. It has been confirmed that the attack on Hyda IV was a surprise attack by the Vendeeni. A Federation vessel is waiting within transporter range to pick up all civilians en route to Remote Station 6__. Please make your way to the transporter room in an orderly fashion; I repeat, please make your..."_

"Come on guys, let's go," Destiny said, ushering the others out of bed, "The transport ship won't wait forever."

"What about mom and dad," Fayt said trying to make his way over to the console that Destiny was at earlier, "We need to find them."

"No, Fayt, we don't have time to look for them," Destiny said, shaking his head, "We just have to have faith that they will make it to either the transport ship, or hide out until the battle dies down so that they can contact us later, should that be the case. Either way, we do not have time."

Destiny moved over to where his brother stood, grabbing Fayt's hands and pulled him towards the door, effectively cutting off the conversation before it could turn into an argument.

They left the room, and began following a line of other evacuees heading to the transporter room, Fayt grumbling the entire way, saying that the computer wouldn't have taken long to tell him where their parents were if Destiny had only let him ask to search for them. Destiny only shook his head and allowed the line to carry them forward toward their chance to escape Hyda IV.

"Please, continue along in an orderly manner," said one of the soldiers stationed at the entrance to the transporter room, "Upon arrival on the transport ship, please exit the transporter post haste so that others may arrive safely."

"Yes sir," Destiny replied, pulling the other two with him inside the awaiting transporter.

Once the light of transportation died down, Destiny noticed another soldier, better armed than the last, nodding his head at the small group.

"This way, please," he said, indicating the automatic doors leading out of the room, "If you continue down this corridor all the way to the end, you'll reach an observation deck. We apologize for the lack of amenities, but the Transport Ship GFSS-12372 Helre was designed for ferrying military personnel and goods between Federation Stations. Please be patient as we head to Remote Station 6; Gravitic Warp will take us there shortly."

"Thank you, sir," Destiny said, bowing to the soldier, "Come along, Fayt, Sophia. We're all in the way of the transporter."

Going through the door, the three of them found themselves in a rather lengthy, if curved, hallway with many shielded windows showing the fiery battle outside of Hyda IV. Destiny scowled as he watched ship after ship explode and building after building disappear in flashes of fire and light on the surface of the planet.

"Those bastards will pay for this," Destiny muttered, clenching his fist, "Mark my words."

"Snap out of it, Des," Fayt said, glancing worriedly at a strange blue glow emanating from his brother's eyes and forehead, "You look like you're about to send a firebolt at the window."

Destiny blinked, opening his fist up, blood welling up slowly from where his nails had cut his palms. He shook his head, the last of the blue glow disappearing as he looked down at his bloodied hands. He tutted himself before concentrating, whispering a quick healing symbol, knitting the crescent shape wounds closed.

"Sorry," he said, grimacing, "Let's get the observation deck."

The others followed him as he walked, stiltedly, towards the end of the hallway, giving each other worried looks, wondering about what they had both seen for different reasons. Fayt knew that what he had seen was familiar to him, he just couldn't place why it was so familiar; Sophia, on the other hand, felt worried by the power that oozed off of the blunette.

Entering the observation deck, Fayt and Sophia watched as Destiny slumped down on a bench that looked out over the star field that didn't contain battles and explosions. Fayt walked over and sat next to his brother, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Before he could say anything though, the computer signaled an announcement.

"_We are about to enter gravitic warp to escape the battle around Hyda IV. All civilians please prepare for warp turbulence."_

As the transport ship enters gravitic warp, the three teens merely sit and watch as the star field first stretches then collapses into a vast purple-hued gravitic warp field. Destiny continues to sit, slumped back on the bench, his eyes closed, fists clenching every now and then, while his brother keeps an arm around his shoulder; Sophia staring ahead at nothing in particular.

"I wonder if mom and dad made it out of there on another ship," Fayt said, breaking the silence, staring out at the gravitic warp field, "I still wish you'd let me ask the computer," he finished with a small grumble.

"I didn't let you check because I already had, Fayt," Destiny replied, eyes still closed, voice dull, "The computer couldn't find them, which doesn't mean anything considering the chaos around Hyda at the time, data signals were likely being disrupted by those bastard Vendeeni."

"But…" Fayt began, just before the gravitic warp field collapsed before their eyes, jarring them a little on the bench, "What the hell is going on, we can't be there yet."

The computer began signaling an imminent message just as a Vendeeni battleship appeared right in the view of the observation deck, causing eruptions of alarm from the civilians onboard.

"This is Commander Volga, Captain of the GFSS-12372 Helre speaking. Our ship is under attack by a Vendeeni battleship; one that has disabled our gravitic warp engines. This means that escape is no longer an option, all power has been diverted to shields to buy time for all civilians to proceed to the escape pods while we distract the enemy," the captain said, his voice bleak, "I wish you all luck."

"This way," a soldier said, upon entering the observation deck from the hallway, "You need to hurry to the escape pods, our shields won't hold for long."

As if on cue, a powerful laser impacts the shields right outside of the observation deck, causing many of the civilians to stumble a little.

"Blast them to hell," Destiny said, catching Sophia to keep her from falling on her face, "Blast them all to hell."

Making their way to the escape pods, following the directions of the military personnel in the halls, Destiny and the others give the soldiers sad looks, knowing that they will be the last to see these brave soldiers. Arriving at the escape pod array, they find that they are the last of the passengers to escape.

"This way," another soldier says pointing to the back of the escape pod array, "There are still a few pods left."

Reaching the end, they find that there are, in fact, only two remaining, causing Destiny to grimace again, before getting a fiercely determined look upon his face.

"Sophia, you get into this one, Fayt and I will have to share one," he said, pushing her gently, but sternly towards one of the escape pods, "We don't have time to waste."

"But… won' that cut your supplies in half?" She asked worriedly, "What if you run out?"

"Then we'll find a planet to land on and activate a beacon," he replied with a shrug, we'll make do, now go."

With that, he slapped the controls to close the escape pod that she was in, forcefully ending the conversation. Turning around he grabbed Fayt's arm and pulled him towards the last one, making sure that Fayt got the seat at the controls.

"Launch us, Fayt," he said, closing the hatch and sitting on the floor, out of the way of the chair's slide rails, "We need leave now, Helre is about to hit critical mass."

Fayt nodded and entered a sequence of commands into the escape pod, launching them post haste, activating the distress beacon at the same time. Moments after they successfully launched from the escape pod array, the Helre began exploding starting at the engine room. Destiny watched what he could from his position; fists clenched once more, teeth bared in a snarl.

"If I ever see a Vendeeni soldier, I'll tear them apart limb from limb to avenge you all," he growled, "You have my word on that."

With that, Destiny's hands begin to drip blood once more, as tears slide down his cheeks.

"We're heading in the wrong direction," Fayt muttered, seeing that a ship appearing at the battlefield before the escape pod could enter gravitic warp caused said pod to change course before escaping the explosion, "Computer, search for life-supporting planets."

"_Confirmed. Searching for life-supporting planets…. Planet found. Vanguard III, approximately zero point five light years from present location. Axial tilt of thirty-five degrees, extreme seasonal weather. Humanoid life forms confirmed, this planet is classified as an Underdeveloped Planet, approximate equivalence with sixteenth century Earth. Would you like to review the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact?"_

"No thanks," Destiny grumbled from the floor, "If we have to break the damned pact to save our lives we will."

"But isn't that covered in the pact as well?" Fayt asked, "Something along the lines of 'Unless faced with a clear danger to life and limb'?"

"Dear brother," Destiny said, standing to place a hand on Fayt's shoulder, "They specify 'clear' meaning that you must have proof, and where, pray tell would we be able to record said proof?"

He merely shakes his head and turns away, "Either way, we will do what we must. That is all we _can_ do."


	5. Chapter 4 - Escape to Vanguard III

A/N: Alright, see, I told you I'd be back to doing this story again. This should start diverging a little bit more here, 'cause really, Fayt should have, being a stickler for the rules and all, changed his clothing so that he'd blend in more. Seriously, he knows he's on an underdeveloped planet, but he only makes a sword, keeping his obviously synthetic and modern looking clothes? Whatever...

Also, sorry for the really long delay (again), life happened, and part of this also seriously didn't want to get written, fighting tooth and nail with me. The next chapter shouldn't take nearly that long. It should also, hopefully, be longer, this chapter just did _not_ want to happen...

Disclaimer: Star Ocean is owned by Tri-Ace, Square-Enix, and anyone else who actually owns it... not me, sadly... -cries-

* * *

"So how long did that computer say that it would take to reach this Vanguard planet?" Destiny asked, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to soothe the crick in it, "'Cause I'm not sure how much longer my neck will hold up laying on the floor in this cramped space."

Fayt sighed, and checked the escape pod's s computer screen, where a countdown timer had started as soon as the computer had found Vanguard as the nearest habitable planet. "When we started it said about 144 hours, or 6 days," he replied, shaking his head, "But now it says 14 hours, so we're almost there, just over half of a day left."

Destiny, having stood up while Fayt was checking the screen, walked over and sighed, laying his head on Fayt's shoulder.

"14 hours is so long," he groaned, "At this rate, I'll happily sleep on a pile of leaves, it's bound to be softer than this hard metal floor."

"Don't worry," Fayt said, reaching up to pat Destiny's head, smiling at his brother's whining, "We'll probably have to set up camp shortly after landing, considering the computer's programming will likely make the pod land a good distance from any underdeveloped villages."

Destiny looked down and their clothes, noting the plastic zippers plainly obvious from up close, "Ugh... we'll have to change our clothes too," he said, sighing a little at the trouble they'd have to go through just to try and blend in, "After all, our clothes are purely synthetic materials that a planet of this type won't have seen before."

Fayt nodded and pulled up the replicator command, "What would you like for us to wear?"

"Earthy or dark colors," Destiny said with a grimace, "Sadly, considering our hair would stand out against those colors. Also the material should be long, and made of cotton or linen."

"Okay then, cloak or no? And what weapon do you want?"

"Yes on the cloak," Destiny replied, nodding, "And go ahead and make a bo staff for me, with emeralds embedded in each end."

"Alright, a bit extravagant, that," Fayt said, inputting Destiny's request, "I'll go for a simple sword, myself."

"Hey now," Destiny said, reaching over to stop Fayt from finalizing the entry, "A t the very least make sure that the sword is sturdy and sharp enough. 'Simple Sword' in replicator terms means a replica sword, weak and cheap. You should know better than that."

"Sorry, sorry," Fayt said, changing the parameters of his sword, while rubbing his eyes, "Still tired here."

Upon confirming the specifications, a pile of clothes and two weapons start appearing, coincidentally causing the sword to land on Destiny's foot due to the small space of the pod.

"Yow!" Destiny exclaimed pulling his foot back in reaction the pain, "You could have waited to do that until we'd landing, you know?"

"Sorry, Des," Fayt said, snickering a little, "You can go ahead and sort the pile out for us both. We'll change when we land."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Destiny said, grumbling, "See if I heal you should be run into anything vicious first thing."

* * *

"Entering the graviational field of Vanguard III," the computer chimed in, breaking the two brothers out of their on and off planning, "Prepare for entry turbulence."

"Here we go," Destiny said, grabbing hold of the chair that Fayt was sitting in, "Let's hope this thing knows to place us away from civilization, but not too far."

"Hold on tight," Fayt said, entering commands as the pod began it's descent, "I'll try to get the pod to land a few kilometers away from a small village."

As the pod descends, the view outside turns from the black of space with a few specks of stars to the blue of an ocean, their atmospheric entry being above the largest ocean so as to attempt to keep the sonic booms from traveling too far inland. Shortly afterward, the pod begins using it's engines to slow it's descent and steer it toward a heavily forested area, bypassing a relatively large estate, followed by an even larger set of ruins looking like a former estate. Mere seconds after passing over that ruined estate, the pod slowed to a near stop, hovering over a small clearing in the forest just three kilometers away from a tiny village, landing right away.

"Great landing, Fayt," Destiny said, clapping his brother on the shoulder, then bent down to grab their synthesized gear, "Here, go head and get changed, I'm gonna head out and scout the area."

Destiny then went out the pod's hatch, taking in the fresh air with a smile, even knowing that they were now far, far from home. Searching around the pod, he noted that the pod itself was very poorly concealed, metalic surfaces gleaming amongst the trees of the forest around them. Pulling out his Quad Scanner, Destiny was preparing to seach for life signs in the remote viscinity, when he heard his brother hopping out of the pod.

"Anything on the scanner," Fayt asked.

"Nothing yet, I only just pulled it out," Detsiny replied, setting the scanner to search, "Hmm... something's moving around, looks like it's traveling at close to fourty klicks, definitely a speedy animal there, and what's this?" He asked, rhetorically, fiddling with the scanner, widening it's range a little, "There we are, a village of humanoids roughly four kilometers north north-east here."

"Sounds like our best bet," Fayt said, sighing a little, "That would normally be a relatively short trip, all told, if it weren't for this rather thick forest here, with who knows what waiting to jump out at us."

"Oh, don't be melodramatic," Destiny said, waving his hand around, "It's not like something will be waiting around every tre-"

Just as he was saying that, there was a loud rustle just a few yards from there position, putting both brothers on high alert, weapons quickly drawn and prepared.

"You were saying?" Fayt asked with an 'I told you so' tone of voice.

"Oh, shut up," Destiny said, flinging his hood off of his head, to give him better vision during battle, "Here it comes."

* * *

\- I know, cliche cliffhanger, though most of you should expect what's coming up. If you don't, well, I won't ruin it xD


	6. Chapter 5 - Whipple Part 1

A/N: Alrighty then, I apparently am incapable of keeping myself on task and actually writing this with any speed, but oh well, I've not abandoned this, and I certainly hope not to. I also have no excuse for waiting this long… I just seem to read far, far more than I can write.

I also wish to remind everyone that I know this story is lacking descriptive exposition, I seem to really only know how to use the bare essentials of description and lean heavily on dialogue, such is my writing style ^^;

Also, it should really start diverging from the main game story soon.

Disclaimer: I still don't own this, and I never will.

* * *

"Here it comes!" Fayt said, readying his sword, only to pause when all that popped out was a small jelly-like slime monster.

"Uhh… Yeah," Destiny said, snickering, "I don't suppose you'd like to take care of that one?"

"Sure thing," Fayt said, swinging his sword in a quick, but strong slash, cutting the slime clear through.

"If that's the only dangerous thing out here, then I don't think we'll have to worry all that much," Destiny said with a shrug, "Anyway, we need to start heading toward that village soon."

"Right," Fayt said, looking at the slime covering his sword. He shook his head and walked over to the pod again, and using the outter computer, he had it replicate a sword cleaning kit, and proceeded to do a cursory cleaning of his sword, then turned toward his brother, "Now we can get going," He said, then checked his map on the quad scanner, "According to the map, this village should be about four kilometers almost due north of our current position."

"Due north we go, then," Destiny said, pulling his cloak's hood up and began making his way through the only clear path available, "However, we should keep an eye out for any possible trouble along the way," he called back, over his shoulder, "There is no guarantee that oversized amoeba are the only dangers in this forest."

* * *

The path, which being relatively clear, was still rough enough to cause the brothers to have to take it slow, so while it should have taken only about an hour to trek the four kilometers north, the brothers found themselves only about half way to their destination as the sunlight quickly began to fade.

"Should we make camp now, or fight our way to the village," Fayt asked, quickly slicing through a slime that was attempting to sneak up on them, "I'm not entirely certain that a campfire will deter these pests from trying to attack us in our sleep," he added, grimacing that the slime covering his blade once again.

"We press on," Destiny said, as he cast a small firebolt to incinerate another slime, "I don't fancy waking up to one of those latched on to me." He then proceeded to cast another small firebolt, this time keeping the fireball hovering in front of him as a makeshift torch, "Plus, I doubt we'd be able to find any safe water nearby much less any substantial source of food, and I don't know about you, but I could use some sustenance right about now."

"Good point," Fayt said, shuddering at the thought of the slimes on him, "It's bad enough cleaning them off of my sword, much less myself." He then raised an eyebrow at his brother's use of the firebolt, "Showing off again, I see. Didn't our symbology instructors specifically say that holding a symbol active for an extended period of time was nigh impossible to do?"

Destiny merely shrugged, "It's not my fault our instructor was wrong, besides, he still had to physically move his hands to form the symbol, so he couldn't have been that good with symbology in the first place," he added, smirking as he added another two firebolts to either side of him, so that there was even more light to walk by.

"Show off," Fayt muttered, though he grinned at his brother's antics. He knew that the could also cast some symbology without the visual cues of drawing it out by hand, but those were only the basics, firebolt, ice needles, lightning blast, and earth glaive, even then, they were also weaker than if he drew the symbol out; his brother had no such flaw. He planned to find a way to combine his basic symbological knowledge with his sword fighting, but he had yet to find a way. With that thought in mind, he began casting a small fire symbol, himself, to keep in practice, when suddenly a small group of slimes jumped out of the bushes along the trail. Twitching, the fire symbol, he'd been casting suddenly shot along his sword, conveniently coating the sword in symbological flames.

"Well now," he said, swinging his now fiery sword at the group of slimes, easily dispatching them, "That was a happy accident," he grinned, swinging the sword in test arcs for a little bit, watching as the flames withered a little mid-swing, only to flare back up upon stopping, "This could be quite useful."

Destiny, meanwhile, shook his head, realizing that his brother would likely refrain from casting symbology much now that he'd found a new 'toy' to play with. Checking his quad scanner once again, he found that they were now much closer to the village, and would likely be there within a half an hour. Thinking that they may have sentries outside the village at night, he snuffed one of the firebolts out, while combining the other with the first, making a single slightly larger flame that he moved to hover just over his staff.

"We should be getting to the village soon, so if you'd rather not look too threatening, you might want to put your sword out soon as well," he said, garnering a nod as Fayt allowed the flame to dispel.

"That's good, because I'm starting to get really tired," Fayt said, rolling his shoulders, "I guess you were right about the lack of water and food," he added, sheathing his sword to grab his water pouch, frowning as he noticed it was empty.

"Well, make sure you don't pass out on me," Destiny said, shaking his head, "We still need to make it to the village first."

While Destiny may have said that in jest, it appeared that his words were more prophetic than anything; as soon as he finished telling his brother not to pass out, Fayt's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward.

Lucky for Fayt, he fell toward his brother, unlucky for Destiny, Fayt was built a bit heavier than himself, causing him to stumble under his unconscious brother's weight. Casting a quick Power Up symbol, Destiny began lugging his brother toward the village, where, he hoped, there would be a least an inn of some sort for them to rest in.

Lost in thought as he was, Destiny didn't notice that he was, in fact, entering the village proper, when a young girl walked up and starting speaking to him.

"Hey mister, are you okay?" She asked, then tilted her head, "Is he okay? Does he have a tummy ache? Mister?"

"I…" was all that Destiny managed to force out before he, like his brother before him, passed out from overuse of his symbological energies without replenishment.

"Eh?! Oh no!" the girl said, before running back towards the village, "Niklas! Nickaaaasss!"

* * *

The next thing that Destiny became aware of was groaning from just a few short feet away. Sitting up, he winced as his head began to throb painfully, recognizing his headache being from overuse of this symbological energies, he sighed, knowing that he could not just use more symbology to Heal away the pain. As he came to this conclusion, the groaning from nearby, began to get louder, prompting him to look to where the sound was coming from, only to see his brother tossing and turning in his sleep, face contorted in horror.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Fayt yelled, springing upward in bed, before wincing for the same reason as Destiny before him, "Oh…. Oww."

"Careful there, Fayt," Destiny said, gingerly getting up out of bed to sit next to his brother, pulling him into a half hug, "We both overexerted ourselves last night, and whatever you were just dreaming about was only a nightmare, everything is fine."

"Unghh…" Fayt groaned, the light coming through the nearby window causing him to scrunch his eyes up, before turning to press his face into his brother's chest, trying to block out the light.

"Come on, Fayt," Destiny said with a small chuckle, "You're too old to be cuddling up with me," he added, ruffling his brother's hair, eliciting another groan from Fayt.

"Stop that," Fayt said, swatting Destiny's hand away from his head, "And I'm not cuddling with you," he added with an audible pout, "You're just good at blocking out that infernal sunlight."

"Seriously, which of us is older?" Destiny asked, bumping heads with his brother, before hearing a squeak from the other side of the room.

"Ah!" The little girl from before exclaimed, barely keeping a hold on the small tray holding a pitcher of water that she was carrying, "Niklas! Niklaass! They're awake, big brother!" She called out, placing the tray on the table, that sat not too far from the foot of the two beds, before running out the doorway she'd just entered, heading to get her brother.

A few seconds later another child, appearing a few years older than the little girl, walked into the room, his earth-toned clothes appearing a little frayed but otherwise clean, much like the little girl's clothes, though hers looked a few sizes too large. The main difference that the two brothers could see about the children were their ears, which were rather long, sticking out from their heads, and pointed, much like the mythical elves of old Earth history.

"Ah, you are both awake, good," the boy said, his voice soft and deeper than expected for his apparent age, though still high enough to show he was young yet. He looked at Fayt, who was still cuddled up next to his brother, "Is he alright? He was groaning in his sleep."

Destiny nodded, and ruffled Fayt's hair again, ignoring the squawk of annoyance, "He's fine," he said, grinning at Fayt's grumbling, "He was just having a bit of a nightmare," he added, then looked around the room some more, now that he wasn't focused on just his brother anymore. The house appeared to be a little dreary, full of dark woods and only a little light from the morning sun filtered through the mist of the forest pouring through the window.

He then gave them a bit of a once over, before frowning a little, "Your clothes are well made, and appear local, but your ears," he muttered, mostly to himself, "Are you Norton's men?"

Destiny and Fayt looked at each other, raising their eyebrows a little, before Destiny shrugged, "We do not know who this Norton person is," he said, tilting his head a little, "I assume that he, too, has small and rounded ears like us, yes?"

The boy, Niklas, as his sister has called, shook his head, "You do not know who Norton is? Then nevermind. I am Niklas, and this is my sister, Meena." As NIklas introduced himself and his sister, Meena peeked out from behind the boy, giving the brothers a shy smile.

"I'm Destiny, and this is my big brother Fayt," Destiny said, poking Fayt in the shoulder, "Thank you for helping us."

"Do not mention it," Niklas said, shaking his head with a smile, "Please feel free to rest for a while, we may not be able to do much, but we do have food."

"That isn't necessary," Fayt starts to say, before wincing as he tries to get up from the bed, "Really, we're fine."

Niklas shakes his head and says, "Just rest, and do not worry, it is our way to help others in times of trouble."

"Thanks."

* * *

A/N: Gods this took forever for me to get around to writing, and Gods above, I need to get off script soon, because this is feeling too much like a script paraphrase.


End file.
